Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

I have read various posts over time that imply/state that certain people like certain fragrances primarily because they are expensive or exclusive and exclude others because they are not. And sometimes the opposite sentiment is expressed.

I was thinking about another sensory delight, namely taste and how discriminating people may be with their dietary choices.

So time for some self-assessment: do you see your approach to food and fragrance to be similar or dissimilar?

For myself, I see my tastes in both food and fragrance to be similarly all over the map. I can enjoy a niche fragrance that is pricey, but I can also appreciate some inexpensive ones as well. I can eat at a fancy restaurant, a fast food place or somewhere in between.

And I have diverse tastes: I like trying new food, ethnic foods of all types, different styles of cooking. It is similar to my love of fragrance sampling: I pretty much want to try any type of fragrance, irrespective of house. Also, I tend to avoid certain foods (individual ingredients that I am allergic to, for example), as well as a handful of fragrance notes (that just never seem to work for me).

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

If this is what you mean, here it is:
I like to cook using lots of spices and herbs and it usually ends up hot 'n' spicy On the other hand, I do have great problems with fragrances being too peppery, saffron too pronounced, too curry-like.
I eat a lot of fresh fruit every day, but I usually dislike fruit notes.
Coconut usually is a no-go for me in a fragrance, chocolate can ruin a fragrance (HdP 1969) for me...

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

You might be on to something. I too enjoy all kinds of food. As long as they taste great/provide an interesting experience/have a technical merit. It probably goes for music as well. For continuous use, I prefer things that are comforting to me, with something interesting going.

I'm partial to savory, real earthy stuff and spices. I also prefer minimal compositions with great ingredients best.
I dislike desserts that are sweet and devoid of anything to cut / balance the sweetness.
These are all valid for my taste in fragrances as well.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

Yikes, no kidding... Surströmming is one the vilest foods ever. And the stench is just overwhelming! Thank goodness for olfactory fatigue.

My diet is not exactly varied since I'm eating a close to purely carnivorous diet; basically things like meat, fish, eggs, butter. I do use spices, garlic, macadamia oil and coconut oil from the vegetal world.

I am concerned about the quality of what I eat, and I truly appreciate a great steak with an excellent bearnaise sauce or foie gras.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

Why does this thread give me the mental image of someone wrapped in a cloud of Creed standing at the register ordering from the dollar menu? LOL

I don't expect that just because someone spends a ton on niche frags that they will only eat expensive meals but common sense would indicate that if you appreciate one the other would be just as much of an appreciation as well. What you eat and drink effects the way you smell, it comes out of your pores. So it would makes sense that someone who cares about scenting their skin would give consideration to what they do elsewhere that impacts their skin's scent. Apart from just trying to provide a healthy diet and good nutrition.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

AFA taste and ability to pick apart the ingredients in any dish, yes.
I generally am able to name each spice or herb used, sometimes over a dozen combined.
And while I eat alot of organic/fresh produce and lean proteins, I occasionally eat fast food.

So while I wear alot of high-end stuff regularly, i still love my Bowling Green and Bogart pour homme.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

I think I'm what they call a "super taster," but that didn't translate into the frag hobby. I had to work on it for months. However, I do seem more sensitive to scents, at least some of the time. At first, though, the notes blended together for me, even in a frag that had good note articulation.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

I can't think of any food I dislike other than raw oysters (cooked, they're fine) I grew up eating everything, including tripe, brains, and marvelous risottos flavored with cuttlefish ink, or with saffron. Squid, octopus? Yum! As an adult working overseas I ate, and enjoyed, hippo, kudu, slimy wild greens and even boiled caterpillars. I love fruits and there isn't a vegetable that I don't eat. Brassicas, legumes? Bring 'em on.

But when it comes to perfume-- no, I am picky. The saffron or vanilla that are delightful in food, turn my stomach in perfumes. I have quite the sweet tooth, but sweet perfumes give me a headache. Spices in food? Marvelous! But I do not tend to wear orientals. There is a definite limit to my tolerance for fruity (non-citrus) scents. Gourmands in general turn me off.

It bemuses me that my food and perfume tastes are so different, but so it is. Oh, I'll try anything (I even tried Sécrétions Magnifique in NY on Monday)-- but my wardrobe is not nearly as broad as that of many others here.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

As my nick suggests, fragrance is a part of an overall sensual lifestyle, so yes, I share the same philosophy in fine food as I do fine fragrance.

My tastes in food and fragrance have become more refined over the years as experience and education have had their influence. Sure, I've had Kobe beef as well as McDonald's french fries and I appreciate each of their qualities. I certainly don't have them very often and it wouldn't bother me if I ever had them again.

I never exclude based on perceived "cheapness" or "costliness" by others. Saffron, certain truffles, and porcelana bean derived chocolates for example, are quite costly ingredients/products, however that is due to market forces more than, in my opinion, their innate sensate value per se.

This is why some fragrance houses can spend a fortune on a costly ingredient and, well, the final product may not appeal to me. I never equate cost or price with likability. Price can indicate a higher probability that the scent is comprised of higher quality materials and is hopefully equally as well designed. The consumer doesn't always get what they pay for, but chances are higher they do.

The law of diminishing returns generally applies here, too, just as one can spend 20 on a fragrance and 75 on another and notice an appreciable difference in quality, however if one purchases a scent for 150 there is probably a smaller qualitative difference between it and the previous (at 75).

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

I only eat vegetables, I prefer raw and fresh food, and I only eat organic unless there is no alternative. I usually eat very simply, and I am also usually satisfied by very simple flavors. Nature tastes good to me, and processed foods taste wrong. However, I do enjoy the experience 'finer' restaurants sometimes, and I do love to cook Asian food and learn new recipes. Curry is my best friend .

My food philosophy does not translate to fragrance, I don't think. I tend to like lush, symphonic scents, designer and super-luxe both. And more natural-ingredient-using perfume houses as well as more 'simple' perfumes rarely appeal to me, if ever.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

I'd say that in both fields my tastes are not as much discriminating, as eclectic, eccentric, often lavish but all in all, faithful to the motto "classic with a twist"

As with fragrances, I like several established dishes just as much as I like several established fragrance names, but I'm always on the tryout for something new, without being particularly adventurous, organized or scheduled when I try out both new frags and new food.

Even if my tastes in both fields can get pretty expensive, paradoxically, I'm not very picky: though I like niche frags and gourmet cuisine, I'm not judging them all based on the principle "expensive is good", so I may say I'm "right down in the middle" between affordable choices and connoisseur/gourmet products.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

I am a greedy sensualist, about both perfume, food and other aspects of life. There are definite similarities between my relationships with food and perfume, as well as clothes, fabrics, pens, ink and a host of other things; I'm willing to try most anything, I enjoy tastes, smells and textures, but I'm specific about what I really like.

Certain kinds of exclusivity has a bit of a cachet for me - age, for instance, I tend to be a little less critical of things that are old - but I really try not to fall for the exclusive, the expensive, the vintage and the hard-to-find just because. Inexpensive is great, easily available is great, and sometimes it's every bit as good, if in a different way.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

I think I have much broader tastes in food than I do in fragrance - but I've enjoyed food for a lot longer than I have fragrance!

With food, my tastes fall mainly on the 'good home cooking' side, though, geographically, that home could be anywhere. I'm not afraid of fine dining, can appreciate quality ingredients cooked to perfection, but am more amused than impressed when a dish has been too 'fancied up'. I love fast food; unashamedly mass appeal street foods like chips and curry sauce, hot doughnuts with cinnamon sugar. I love that a £20 steak, a £10 steak burger or a £2 Big Mac are all enjoyable and satisfying in their own way. Basically, when it comes to food, I want to give the lot of it a big old uncritical loving hug.

With fragrance I'm still finding my way, so by necessity more critical. I want to be suprised, challenged, and I don't seem to find that in most high street scents. I'm a sucker for fancy branding and packaging, though like to think I can see through it. Likewise, I'm open to quality fragrance presented badly (though, through lack of experience, I find it harder to judge quality). I make quick 'yes, no, maybe' judgements. I'm much more likely to use words like, 'yuck' and wrinkle my nose than I am with food.

Out here we are running for the wide open spaces, the road-smell after the rain.

Re: Food vs Fragrance: Are Your Tastes Equally Discriminating?

Hmm, interesting topic. For me though, I think it's just coincidental that I enjoy a good fragrance at a low price, as much as I enjoy good food on sale. Applebees appetizers half off, Bogo's at Publix, etc. I also have some fragrances I pay retail for.. those that are exceptions to the budget, as with eating out, I may spend more on say a better sushi bar. I enjoy a wide variety of cuisines from all different cultures as I enjoy a wide variety of fragrances. I love spicy foods, but don't "love" spicy fragrances anymore than I enjoy any other genre.

Although I do know lots of people who only wear niche fragrances, who only eat at more upscale restaurants. Who have more expensive furniture in their homes, Italian leather, velor sheets, wear silk robes, etc. I think it's more of a lifestyle than anything else. I don't believe there is any sort of psychological connection between the two.